WASHINGTON (AP) -- Among the human remains painstakingly sorted from
the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crash sites of September 11 are those of
nine of the hijackers.

The FBI has held them for months, and no one seems to know what should
be done with them. It's a politically and emotionally charged question
for the government, which eventually must decide how to dispose of some
of the most despised men in American history.

"I think in Islam, you're supposed to be buried whole, so I would
take them and scatter them all over the place," said Donn Marshall, whose
wife, Shelley, died at the Pentagon. "They don't deserve any kind of religious
courtesies."

In New York, where the monumental task of identifying the remains
of 2,823 victims believed to be dead continues, no remains have been linked
to the 10 hijackers who crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center.
About half the victims' families still are waiting for their loved ones
to be identified, though it's likely many never will be because so much
of the site was incinerated.

In contrast, the remains of all 40 victims in the Pennsylvania crash
and all but five of the 184 victims at the Pentagon site were identified
months ago.

Little attention has been paid to the terrorists' remains found mingled
with those of the victims.

"It's a unique situation," said Dr. Jerry Spencer, a former chief
medical examiner for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, who worked
30 years as a Navy forensic pathologist. "The terrorists are usually not
in our possession in the United States like this. The other issue is, will
the families want them back?"

Four sets of remains in Pennsylvania and five at the Pentagon were
grouped together as the hijackers -- but not identified by name -- through
a process of elimination.

Families of the airplanes' passengers and crews and those who died
within the Pentagon provided DNA samples, typically on toothbrushes or
hairbrushes, to aid with identification. The remains that didn't match
any of those samples were ruled to be the terrorists, said Chris Kelly,
spokesman for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, which did the DNA
work. The nine sets of remains matched the number of hijackers believed
to be on the two planes.

Without reference samples from the hijackers' personal effects or
from their immediate families to compare with the recovered DNA, the remains
could not be matched to an individual.

With the one-year anniversary approaching, State Department officials
said Friday they had received no requests for the remains. The department
would be responsible for handling such a request from any government seeking
the return of a citizen's body.

Officials have said that all but one of the nine hijackers recovered
had connections to Saudi Arabia. The other was Lebanese.

Officials at the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests
for comment.

In more typical cases, foreign families also could contact local
authorities. But the hijackers' remains are under the control of the FBI.

"To the best of my knowledge, there haven't been any friends or family
members to try to claim the remains of these people," said Jeff Killeen,
spokesman for the FBI field office in Pittsburgh. "They are in the custody
of the FBI in Washington. They have not been released."

In cases where badly damaged bodies cannot be identified, or when
no one steps forward to claim a body, state or local laws usually dictate
what will be done with them.

"If it's a mass disaster, and they can't identify the remains, they
may put all of them in a mass grave or they may be cremated," said Michael
Bell, vice president of the National Association of Medical Examiners and
the deputy chief examiner for Broward County, Fla.

Authorities usually retain only small DNA samples, photographs or
other pertinent information that might lead to identification later or
become evidence in a criminal case.

A group memorial service is planned for Arlington National Cemetery
on Sept. 12, when all the remains from the Pentagon that could not be matched
with a particular victim will be buried, said Maj. Sandy Troeber, a spokeswoman.

The remains linked to terrorists were taken by the FBI in February,
she said.

James Starrs, a professor of forensic science and law at George Washington
University, said there should be public oversight of what the government
does with human remains, whether they are criminals or victims.

Policies must take into account that there are cases where relatives
don't seek repatriation of remains, including many examples of Americans
killed on overseas battlefields, noted Starrs, who is known for his forensic
work in historical cases, such as the outlaw Jesse James and the mystery
of the Boston Strangler.

"Good persons or bad persons, you can't assume that the relatives
are going to come to the fore and try to reclaim their remains," Starr
said.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Faksimile 2 aus dem britischen "Independent"'Suicide hijacker' is an airline pilot alive and well
in JeddahSuspectsBy Robert Fisk in Beirut17 September 2001A man named by the US Department of Justice as a suicide hijacker
of American Airlines flight 11 ­ the first airliner to smash into the
World Trade Centre ­ is very much alive and living in Jeddah.

Abdulrahman al-Omari, a pilot with Saudi Airlines, was astonished
to find himself accused of hijacking ­ as well as being dead ­
and has visited the US consulate in Jeddah to demand an explanation.

None has so far been forthcoming. It is possible that the hijacker
adopted Mr al-Omari's identity but, if he had been using the same false
name while training as a pilot in the US, he would presumably have been
uncovered.

That is not the only error on the list of hijackers. The name of
Ziad Jarrah ­ identified as the pilot-hijacker of United Airlines flight
93, which crashed in Pennsylvania ­ was misspelt "Jarrahi". He was
a Lebanese whose family, living in the Bekaa Valley, spoke to him just
two days before his death but who still refuse to believe that he was involved.

Mr al-Omari's first name ­ Abdulrahman ­ was later given
out by the US authorities as "Abdulaziz" but there can be little doubt
that it referred to the pilot who lives in Jeddah. The Americans described
him as a father of four and Mr al-Omari does have four children, all of
whom live with him and his family in Saudi Arabia's second city. He has
refused to talk to reporters and ­ in the words of one prominent Saudi
journalist ­ "is one nervous guy".

NORTH PORT -- As authorities continue to dig through the rubble in
Tuesday's terrorist attacks, agents were digging through North Port to
find one of the many missing pieces to the puzzle of who declared war on
the United States and why.

Thursday began like a normal day for North Port residents Tony and
Vonnie LaConca, but they would later learn a man who rented their Agress
Avenue home is someone whom authorities think may be connected with Tuesday's
attacks.

An FDLE agent working in conjunction with the FBI arrived at the
LaConca home around 10:30 a.m. Thursday and questioned the couple for two
hours concerning a man they knew only as "Mohamed."

The couple told the agent the man was about 25, 5 feet 10 inches,
160 pounds, had "dark, perfect" skin, and was clean cut and "very polite."

"He was a very handsome guy," Vonnie LaConca said in an interview.
"He had beautiful, unblemished skin."

Mohamed was associated with a local woman believed to be Amanda Keller,
a local restaurant manager, LaConca said. The FBI is looking for Keller
for additional questioning, but she might be missing.

LaConca told the agent that Keller had "dishwater blonde hair, was
about 21 years old, big boned with freckles" and seemed to be enamored
of Mohamed.

In an effort to locate Keller, the agent accompanied Tony LaConca
to the North Port Police Department to pick up a Feb. 25 police report
in which Keller had called police about harassing cell phone calls.

According to the police report, after Keller called police about
the calls, a computer check was conducted and showed an outstanding warrant
from Marion County on a worthless check charge.

"Mohamed bailed her out of South County Jail," Vonnie LaConca said.
"We told agents this because we thought they (FBI) might be able to get
his last name from the reports."

Keller, who allegedly met Mohamed while working at Papa John's Pizza
in Venice, told the couple she would translate because Mohamed spoke limited
English. She said he was French/Canadian. She told the LaConcas that he
was not a U.S. citizen.

A Papa John's employee confirmed that Keller was a manager there,
but has not been to work for some time.

While talking to Keller and Mohamed, the couple learned he had a
pilot's license to charter small planes of four to six people and was going
to school at Huffman Aviation in Venice to train for a commercial pilot's
license. Huffman was the school that enrolled Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi,
both identified as suspects in the hijacked jet assaults on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.

"We almost asked him if he wanted to fly our plane," Tony LaConca
said. "He was a very polite guy."

Keller said she would be responsible for the rental, but the man
gave the couple two checks amounting to $75 each.

While he was writing the checks, the couple noticed Mohamed had brand
new clothing, all still with tags on them from a local mall, the couple
remembered.

The only request Mohamed made to the couple was that they provide
him a desk in which he could do his aviation homework.

"He didn't even care if the house had a bed, all he wanted was a
desk," said Tony LaConca in a thick New York accent.

The couple learned more about Mohamed from a then-employee of Vonnie's
cleaning company. After meeting Mohamed and Keller on Feb. 21, the former
employee joined the couple on an adventure to Key West the following day.

"They were gone for three days," said Tony LaConca. "They didn't
sleep -- it was a continuous party."

LaConca said Mohamed footed the entire bill for the weekend including
buying Keller and the unnamed employee new clothes, alcohol, drugs and
hotel stay. However, the couple said, Mohamed did not have a job.

"The two girls were introduced to two men from Germany that they
said were Mohamed's friends," Tony LaConca continued. "I thought it was
strange, because Mohamed didn't appear to be French-Canadian or German."

The couple said the agent tried to locate and interview the unnamed
employee, however they said she was "uncooperative to the agent." However,
Vonnie learned the former employee made telephone contact with Mohamed
last week.

At the end of his week-long stay at Agress Avenue, Mohamed returned
to the LaConcas' home to pick up his $75 security check. This time, the
couple noticed he spoke "good English." He arrived in a rental car with
a friend that he claimed he had just picked up from the airport. Mohamed
requested that the check be made out to his unidentified friend.

"His friend didn't speak any English, and his name was very strange,"
said Vonnie LaConca. "The two stayed at our house for at least an hour.
Mohamed seemed real interested in the architecture and decor of our home.
He asked all kinds of questions about it. I thought they would never leave."

The couple said the FDLE agent showed them four photographs of possible
suspects in the terrorist attack.

"The first photo they showed us was the pilot who crashed into the
first building," Vonnie LaConca said. "It was not Mohamed or his friend.
But the last picture they showed us was very close, but I could not say
100 percent that it was him."

The FBI in Tampa would neither confirm nor deny any agents interviewing
people in the North Port area.

"We recommend that you check in with CNN for current information,"
an FBI spokesperson only identified as "Pam" said Thursday afternoon. "Any
press statements can be found on televised stations like CNN."

Filipinos Recall Hijack Suspects Leading a High Life Don Kirk International Herald Tribune Friday, October 5, 2001

MABALACAT, Philippines They stayed at a popular resort hotel here,
drank whiskey with Philippine bargirls, dined at a restaurant that specializes
in Middle Eastern cuisine and visited at least one of the local flight
schools.

The two men suspected by the FBI of being at the controls of the
planes that flew into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11 left those
traces behind from visits from 1998 to 2000 to this hustling market town
outside a former U.S. Air Force base, according to local residents who
say they recognized the two from news photographs.

Philippine and U.S. investigators have been checking out the reported
movements here of Marwan Al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta. They would not confirm
the accused hijackers' presence in the Philippines, but the local hotel
workers were willing to discuss them.

Mr. Al-Shehhi, whom the FBI has identified as the pilot of United
Airlines Flight 175 when it slammed into the trade center's south tower,
threw a party with six or seven Arab friends at the Woodland Park Resort
Hotel here in December, said a former waitress at the hotel, Gina Marcelo.
"There were about seven people," she said. "They rented the open area by
the swimming pool for 1,000 pesos. They drank Johnnie Walker Black Label
whiskey and mineral water. They barbecued shrimp and onions. They came
in big vehicles, and they had a lot of money. They all had girlfriends."
She cited "one big mistake they made." Unlike most foreign visitors, "They
never tipped," she said. "If they did, I would not remember them so well."

Victoria Brocoy, a chambermaid at the Woodland, recalls Mr. Atta,
the Egyptian who investigators believe flew American Airlines Flight 11
into the trade center's north tower. "He was not friendly. If you say hello
to him, he doesn't answer. If he asks for a towel, you do not enter his
room. He takes it at the door."

Mr. Atta was by no means a recluse. "Many times I saw him let a girl
go at the gate in the morning," she said. "It was always a different girl."

:The accounts here tend to confirm reports from the United States
that at least some of the accused hijackers had free-wheeling lifestyles
full of sex and alcohol, and took precautions to keep their identities
secret.

They are assumed to have gravitated here in search of flying lessons.
The area is a hub for pilots and flying instructors, Filipinos as well
as foreigners, as a result of its relationship to Clark Air Base, converted
to a special economic zone after the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1991.
At least two flying schools offer lessons, one of them in the zone; the
other, the Angeles City Flying Club, is owned by the same corporation as
the Woodland hotel, about 20 kilometers to the east.

The hijacking suspects were introduced to the hotel, according to
workers who saw them, by a Jordanian businessman who runs a travel agency
in Manila and often stays there but denies having known them.

Their presence aroused little curiosity in the male-dominated foreign
community that ranges from retired military people to tourists from Europe,
Australia and the Middle East, many of them drawn by the cheap prices and
the availability of the local women.

The investigation by Philippine and American authorities has focused
not only on the timing of their visits to this town about 100 kilometers
(60 miles) north of Manila but also into exactly what they were doing and
why.

The search is complicated by the fact that they made certain not
to register under their own names, but two patterns have emerged from the
investigation, according to Philippine police officials. The first is that
the two displayed a keen interest in learning how to fly small planes,
and the second is that they dominated a clique of Arab visitors, most of
whom have not been seen since shortly before the attacks.

Ferdinand Abad, who was working as a security guard at the entrance
to the hotel in mid-1999, remembers Mr. Atta asking at what time he should
wait outside the Woodland hotel for a van to take him to the Angeles City
Flying Club.

"I told him about 7 in the morning, and he gave me a tip of 50 pesos,"
- about $1 - Mr. Abad said. "Two or three times a week the van would pick
him up. He didn't say he was going to fly. After our first meeting, he
never talked, never said hello."

The driver of the van, Mr. Abad said, was Melvin Troth, manager of
the flying club, who retired as a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force
in 1986 after serving his last tour at nearby Clark Air Base. Mr. Troth
told investigators, however, that the names of Mr. Atta and Mr. Al-Shehhi
did not appear in his records.

"I pick up a lot of people and take them out here," he protested
to a colonel from the Philippine National Police headquarters, one of a
stream of official visitors to the Flying Club in recent days, as a reporter
was present. "It's a regular procedure. I don't remember them."

On the base, converted to a special economic zone after the Philippine
Senate refused to extend the bases agreement with the United States in
1991, Philippine officials respond to such denials with derision mingled
with serious concern.

"We want the whole world to know about the danger of these people
around here," said Tony Salenga, chief executive assistant to the chairman
of the Clark Development Corp., which is responsible for attracting investors
to the former base to set up stores and factories there. "We believe they
were establishing cells right here."

Residents recall that friends of Mr. Atta and Mr. Al-Shehhi often
gathered at the Woodland Park and at the Jerusalem Restaurant in Angeles
City, which borders the base just south of here.

Trudis Dago, manager of the restaurant, remembered Mr. Atta as someone
who "would never smile and would never talk to anyone except his friends."

Chairman Cox's Statement on the Terrorist
Attack on America

At 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday, as a hijacked
Boeing 767 slammed into the World Trade Center, I was in the Pentagon in
the private dining room of the Secretary of Defense. Don Rumsfeld, the
Secretary, and Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary, and I were discussing
how to win votes for the Bush defense plan that is now pending in the House
and Senate.

When minutes later, the Pentagon
itself was hit by a Boeing 757 loaded with civilian passengers, virtually
the entire building was immediately evacuated. I escaped just minutes before
the building was hit. Most of those who remained were huddled in the National
Military Command Center in a basement bunker of the building. From there,
America's military response is being directed even now.

Ironically, just moments before the
Department of Defense was hit by a suicide hijacker, Secretary Rumsfeld
was describing to me why America needs to abandon its decade-old two-major-war
strategy, and focus on the real threat facing us in the 21st century: terrorism,
and the unexpected.

"When I worked on the ballistic missile
threat commission [the 1998 bipartisan group popularly known at the Rumsfeld
Commission], there was an 'event' every few months that focused the attention
of those in denial," he told me. "For example, India shocked the world
when it detonated a nuclear device. Then Pakistan. Then North Korea launched
a two-stage ballistic missile over Japan.

"Terrorist groups, some state-sponsored,
are developing these same missile capabilities as we meet here. They are
developing the chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons to go with them.

"They do not have all the pieces
yet, but they will. That is why Congress has got to give the President
the tools he needs to move forward with a defense of America against ballistic
missiles, the ultimate terrorist weapons.

"If we remain vulnerable to missile
attack, a terrorist group or rogue state that demonstrates the capacity
to strike the U.S. or its allies from long range could have the power to
hold our entire country hostage to nuclear or other blackmail,'' he said.

"And let me tell you, I've been around
the block a few times. There will be another event." He repeated it for
emphasis: "There will be another event."

Within minutes of that utterance,
Rumsfeld's words proved tragically prophetic.

Both he and Wolfowitz emphasized
the recent partisanship that has made military planning near impossible.
Whereas during the Clinton administration the congressional votes to deploy
a missile defense where overwhelmingly bipartisan, now that President Bush
has made it clear his commitment is more than rhetorical, there is significant
backsliding.

As the Senate armed services subcommittee
met in secret to work on details of the defense authorization bill for
fiscal year 2002, which begins Oct. 1, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) threw
down the gauntlet last week, threatening to derail any actual deployment
of a missile defense that would violate the 30-year old ABM Treaty with
the former Soviet Union. That is tantamount to killing any missile defense
that works, as both the President and Secretary Rumsfeld have made clear
repeatedly.

In the House, as the defense committee
worked in open session to complete the spending bill for the Defense Department
and defense work of the Energy Department, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the
Armed Services Committee's top Democrat, said Tuesday he would seek to
divert $860 million from missile defense to other Pentagon needs when the
bill hits the House floor. The committee rejected that on a party-line
vote last month.

Rumsfeld also implored the Congress
to provide all the money the President has requested for his budget --
not just the 2% earmarked for missile defense. "We need every nickel of
it,'' he said.

But not all Democrats have been playing
the partisan game. "I saw the attack on Pearl Harbor. I remember June 25,
1950, when the North Koreans attacked,'' said Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii),
the Armed Services panel chairman, at last week's hearing. "There is one
lesson I will never forget: If we want to prevent war, we must be prepared
for war.''

The war for which we must be prepared
will not be fought with the Soviet Union, nor governed by the outdated
rules of the Cold War. We got the first glimpses of its ugly face in Tuesday's
"event."

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